


It Was Ice Snowing You

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Gen, we came up with it in physics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-04 10:32:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1079958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John invites Karkat to go ice skating. Shenanigans ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Was Ice Snowing You

**Author's Note:**

> wow my first fanfic on Ao3 i hope people read it
> 
> more stuff coming soon maybe

“Hey, Karkat!”  
John’s voice, cheery and slightly irritating on the frosty December morning, assaulted Karkat’s ears far too early for his liking as he stumbled blindly out of bed to stop his phone from ringing. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked at the clock which was lit up in the corner of the room. It was 8:45 and Karkat mentally cursed John for waking him up so early.  
“This had better be fucking good, Egbert, because if I have to hear your voice one more time at this hour, I will run to your house and have my morning piss on your goddamn iPhone, I swear to God,”  
He could hear John snickering down the line.  
“Sorry, Karkat! I didn’t know you’d still be sleeping,” he laughed again. Karkat scowled.  
“Some of us have a fucking job, you ignorant sack of shit. I got home at two am, in case you didn’t know.”  
“I got home at four am, dude. Man up,” Dave interrupted from wherever John happened to be. Karkat worked the first part of the night shift at a club in the city, and Dave performed at the same place on a couple of nights that he was working. He tended to stay afterward for a drink and a conversation with some of his audience, so almost always stayed later than Karkat. He was about to respond with a snarky retort, but was interrupted by John responding indignantly.  
“I have a job! It’s just not all of us are stupid enough to pick a night shift!”  
“Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, Egbert. Fortunately for me I still have a higher salary than you, which I am more than willing to sacrifice a few hours sleep for, shitstain.”  
He ignored Dave murmuring something in the background and Johns answering giggle, feeling jealousy starting to bubble in the pit of his stomach. He cleared his throat, poking aside the curtain to look out of his window, an unexpected ray of light illuminating his face and making him blink. The jealousy was always followed by a twinge of guilt. Dave irritated him, sure, but they had no hard feelings, and he would even consider Dave’s constant jabs at him and his own angry retorts some form of twisted friendship.  
“So, what do you want, John?” he said finally. John paused for a second, obviously forgetting what he wanted to say. Karkat sighed wearily. “I don’t have all day, asshat.”  
“Wait, no! You need to have all day because I am inviting you out with us! Jade’s here, and Dave, obviously, and Rose and Kanaya are-”  
“Yeah, I know, we won’t have to suffer the unbearable awkwardness of being alone together for more than ten minutes with nothing to talk about, yippee.”  
“You aren’t awkward, Karkat,” John said sincerely, earning a snigger from Dave, and even coaxing a smirk out of Karkat. “Okay, you are a little awkward, but I like hanging out with you! So do you want to go ice skating with us? They opened a new rink at the park, and we wanted to get there early before it gets crowded, it opens at nine thirty so we can-”  
Karkat was immediately confronted with an image of himself sliding about on ice skates, trying to keep his balance as Dave skated effortlessly past him with John in tow, swooning. He was tempted to decline his offer out of embarrassment, but surely ice skating couldn’t be that difficult. He interrupted John’s ramblings.  
“If it’s really that important to you, I’ll come. But if there is any hint of a prank, any tiny, far-fetched chance I will end up limping home covered in my own blood and tears, I will come to your house and shit on everything you love.”  
He could practically hear him grinning from down the phone. “Awesome! Come meet us in Starbucks in half an hour?”  
“Fine.” Karkat hung up and headed to the bathroom, grabbing a towel and dumping it on the floor outside the shower. He turned the heat up until it was scalding his skin, burning away his tiredness and any tiny misgivings he might have. Afterwards, he stepped out and headed back to his bedroom, scanning the room for an okay-looking pair of jeans. He spotted one hanging off the back of his chair and put them on, pulling his favourite sweater on over the top.  
He walked into the kitchen, pulling a red scarf around his neck and grabbing his coat off the back of the sofa. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out.  
From: John  
hurry up! want me to get you anything?? ;B  
To: John  
YEAH, GET ME THE GINGERBREAD LATTE. I’M JUST LEAVING NOW.  
Karkat put his phone back in his coat pocket and grabbed his keys. The walk to Starbucks wasn’t a long one, as his apartment was quite near the city centre. It was a crappy flat, but its location had its benefits, which made the cost balance out to something just about affordable. The icy breeze blew towards Karkat, blowing his hair out of his eyes and making him squint a little. As the coffee shop came into view, he spotted Jade sitting with her back to the window, her long black hair pulled into a messy plait. He stepped forward and knocked on the window, watching her turn around and pull a face at him before beckoning him inside. He opened the door and saw her sitting with John, who was grinning at him, and Dave with his usual poker face. Dave was wearing an ugly Christmas jumper in mouldy green and faded red, with barely discernible snowflakes dotted across its width. Rose and Kanaya nodded at him calmly and Jade waved enthusiastically at him from a corner.  
“Hey, Karkat! This is yours; drink it before it gets cold!” she said, presenting his gingerbread latte to him like it was some sort of prize for braving the cold to get to them. He bit back his sarcastic comment and took the coffee with a word of thanks, glancing over at John. Karkat nodded a greeting and pulled his face in something that was supposed to be a smile but may have come out more like a grimace. John’s smile did not falter, and he was grateful.  
“Okay, crabby-kat has arrived, our exploration party is complete, let’s go already,” Dave drawled, shifting his gaze onto Karkat, smirking slightly. Karkat recognised this as a challenge, but wasn’t in the mood to make much effort with a response.  
“Yeah, what he said. Why don’t we change the subject to something more interesting, like how retarded you look wearing that jumper, and how much I hope it isn’t another example of that embarrassing sense of humour you've christened ‘irony’,” he said, curling his hands around his latte and taking a sip.  
“Wow, dude, you didn’t say ‘fuck’ in that sentence once! I think you deserve a gold star, and maybe later a punch in the throat,” Dave replied, his voice nonchalant, but his eyebrows creasing a little above his shades. Karkat considered this a victory. Jade grinned at both of them, nudging John. "Yeah, can we go now?" He said, standing up and pulling on his jacket. "As much as I love watching you two hitting it off, I still want to be on time." "Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Shall we?" Rose added, walking over to open the door. An arctic blast hit them as they left the warmth of the coffee shop, eyes narrowed against the prevailing winds. When they arrived, the park was decorated with twinkling Christmas lights wound around some of the trees and and the smell of cinnamon wafted from a stand next to the rink. Karkat sped up so he could walk beside John. "So, I've never done this before," he said hesitantly, eyes on the ground. His eyes flickered up to meet Johns bright blue ones, drinking in their beauty before he had to look away again. "Oh, I have, it's pretty fun once you get used to it!" was his reply. He looked down at Karkat, smiling softy and reaching out to ruffle his hair. There wasn't much difference in their height, but John was slightly taller than him and took every opportunity to flaunt it. Karkat stepped back, shaking his head. "I sure hope so, asshole."

***

The ice rink was a temporary one, but large nonetheless. Jade grabbed Karkats hand and yanked him towards the ticket stand, where a bored looking woman was standing, and asked eagerly for two adults. Karkat pulled out his wallet, grumbling, and paid for them both, waving away her protests. "Karkat, you don't have to-"

"Please, you know you can't afford to turn down an offer like this, you're a broke college student. Besides, it's not expensive," he insisted, taking the tickets the woman handed to them and strolling towards where the skates were being distributed. Dave wolf whistled behind him and he frowned. Karkat was the last one to make it out onto the ice, swapping shoes twice so he got the right size and taking extra care to tie his laces correctly. Looking up, he saw Rose and Kanaya gliding almost effortlessly over the ice, holding hands. Jade was skidding haphazardly across the rink, calling out to Dave, who was leaning casually against the side, watching her.

"Karkat! Come on, it's awesome!"

John had appeared in front of him, balancing on the silver blades and holding out a hand to pull him up. Taking it, Karkat stood, wobbling slightly on the skates and hurrying to follow him to the small opening in the side of the rink. The skate cut into the ice a bit as he took his first step onto the rink, John murmuring encouragingly.

"Yo, Karkles, if you don't hurry that ass up I'm gonna come over there and hurry it up for you," Dave called across to him, coasting across the ice with controlled movements. "Although it looks like Egbert is doing a pretty good job all by himself," he smirked, skidding to a halt nearby. Karkat flushed a deep red, about to start shouting, before John's hand muffled the noise and the other seized his own. "Hey, he's just teasing. Chill out, okay?" He grinned suddenly at his own wit, removing his hand. "Geddit? Chill out?" Karkat rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm in fucking stitches over here. Really."

Abrubtly, he became aware of the warmth on his hand, and looked down to see John still holding it, fingers curled tightly around his own. His cheeks felt hot. John seemed to notice this too, and pulled away, his smile fading a little. He started to skate away, wobbling with his arms outstretched for balance, but Karkat didn't follow him, looking down at the ice again. John spotted him just standing there, and smiled warmly. "Come on, I'll teach you how! It's easy, I promise," he called. Frowning, Karkat managed to take three steps towards him before staggering, his hands meeting cold ice as he stopped his face from hitting the ground. There was a soft tutting behind him. "Really, John, you expect to be able to teach him to skate when you can barely do so yourself?" Rose had extended a hand to haul him to his feet. Kanaya stood beside him, smiling warmly and nodding in agreement.

"Not all of us have some award in figure skating, Rose! I was self-taught!" he huffed, crossing his arms. Karkats lips twitched up into a faint smile at John's irritation, he thought it was cute. Kanaya moved forward, perfectly upright.

"First, you need to lean forward slightly, and bend your knees so you do not fall," she advised, smiling.

"Yes, I know that, why don't you teach me how to fucking move? " Karkat answered impatiently, clenching his fists.

"Just keep sliding your feet forward, and don't fall over," Kanaya moved away to give him some space, her jade green scarf blowing sideways in the cold breeze, a subtle smirk on her face.

"I could have told him that," John mumbled. Rose shook her head, following Kanaya.

Karkats first few movements were hesitant, but he soon got a steady rhythm going, he managed to get to the other side of the rink without too much trouble. There was the familiar half-hazard scrape of skates behind him and he turned to see John, hand held up for him to high five. Karkat shot him a look.

"Don't condecend me, fuckass."

"I was going to tell you you were awful," John chortled, shoving his hands in his pockets. His glasses haid a smear of water on them, blurring and distorting Karkat's view of his cool blue eyes . Absent-mindedly, he reached up to wipe it off with his jacket sleeve, cupping John's cheek in one hand and wiping away the smear with the other. A red flush crept up John's neck and his cheeks reddened. Karkat pulled away, blushing.

"Um, there was some water," Karkat mumbled, looking at the ground. "On your glasses."

"Yeah," he heard John murmur.

"Sorry," said Karkat. Before John could reply, he said quickly "Hey, you wanna get something to eat?" and gestured to the food stand behind him, still avoiding John's gaze.

"Uh, okay."

Jade waved at them as they came over, holding a a cheap paper cup of coffee in one hand. Karkat snuck a glance at John.

"Where's Dave?" John asked, scanning the rink, and avoiding Karkats gaze entirely. His stomach dropped.

"Bathroom, I think," she said cheerily, taking a sip of coffee. "They have some really nice cinnamon-apple things over there, if you're hungry."

Karkat looked pointedly up at John, who was facing Jade and nodding. They left her and walked awkwardly on their skates over to where they were selling food and drinks.

"What do you want?" Karkat asked, taking out his wallet. John turned to frown at him.

"Hey, stop paying for things. I'll pay."

"I wasn't aware the idea of free food didn't appeal to you, Egbert." Karkat put his wallet back in his pocket. John's face cracked into a dorky grin.

"Oh, it does. But the idea of being the girl in our relationship doesn't."

"Ha Ha Ha, very funny." Karkat grimaced, but pointed at a sugary pastry dusted with cinnamon, being warmed in a glass compartment. "I hope Jade is right about these."

"They look good!" John asked the man behind the counter how much they were whilst Karkat looked around for somewhere to sit, finally settling on a bench partially hidden by a tall pine.

When he sat down to wait for John, he could see Dave gliding around the rink with apparent ease, sliding backwards whilst he pulled along a giggling Jade.

"Smug bastard," you mumble under your breath.

"Yeah. But he means well." John was standing just behind him, holding two paper bags and smiling softly as he followed his gaze. Karkat gestured for him to sit down and took one of the bags. John took a large bite out of his pastry as he sat, breaking into a grin.

"Holy shit, this is good."

"Your life revolves around food, I swear to god," Karat murmured, taking a bite and letting the sweet apple filling melt on his tongue. He watched John eat with some sort of satisfaction, his constant excitement at everyday happenings was kind if endearing.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, John looked thoughtfully up at Karkat, who quickly resumed eating the pastry.

"Wanna play a prank on Dave?" He asked, crumpling up the brown bag and throwing it at the bin about a metre away. The wind caught it and he missed, so he sighed and stood up to collect it.

"What are you, twelve?" Karkat grumbled, scrunching up his own bag and throwing it so it landed perfectly inside the bin. John laughed and shook his head.

"C'mon, it'll be funny! I was just gonna hide behind the wall and chuck that gross slushy stuff on the rink at him as he comes by. Please? He deserves to fall at least once."

Karkat shot him A Look, but John smiled persistently. He sighed.

"Fine, whatever."

John grinned and slipped behind the pine tree so he could hide in its branches.

"Are you really going to do that, Egbert?"

John frowned at Karkat, emerging with a gentle rustling of pine needles. He couldn't help but smirk at his childish frown.

"Just go fetch some slush. Be casual about it, we'll walk over together. If you fuck up and get us caught, I will take one if those dried-up pinecones and shove it up your-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! Sheesh."

John started to walk quickly towards the rink, and Karkat had to do an awkward jog to keep up.

"Slow down, dipshit, you look like you have purpose."

"It doesn't matter, he isn't looking! Run!"

He started sprinting towards the edge of the rink (to the best of his ability when wearing the skates), scooped up a handful of melting ice in one hand and then ducked behind the barrier. Karkat followed likewise at a slower speed, and ducked down next to him as he giggles. He felt a sharp pain in his foot as he twisted around to lean against against the barrier.

"A heads up would be nice next time, I think I've twisted my ankle," Karkat said in a loud whisper, elbowing him in the ribs. John wheezed even harder, and Karkat sighed.  
  
"Okay then, fuckwit, what now? You've injured your accomplice and you sound like you're having an asthma attack. Smooth moves."

John put his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter, and turned away to peek over the edge.

"He's coming over." Karkat pushed him down so he could look over and watch Dave skating around the edge of the rink towards them.

"Shit, throw it, throw it now!" He kicked John with the side of his boot but when he turned to glare at him he was met with a face-full of melting ice. There was a brief silence before John erupted into unrestrained laughter, clutching his stomach.

"Hahahaha! I can't - oh my god - your face!!"

Karkat drew his sleeve across his eyes, narrowing them and scowling.

"You are so. Fucking. Dead."

Karkat launched himself at John, who flailed his arms and tried to kick him, gasping. Pinning him to the ground, Karkat tried to shove the dripping slush in John's face, but he caught Karkat's wrist in his hand and it ended up flying everywhere. John grinned triumphantly and Karkat let out an angry growl as his other wrist was caught.

He tried to wriggle out of John's grip, yelping as he felt sharp fingernails dig into his skin.

"Let go, Egbert, stop it!" John immediately loosened his grasp on his wrists, frowning as Karkat rubbed them with numb fingers.

"Whoops. Sorry, got a little bit carried away there."

"No shit, Sherlock."  
  
He tried to sit up, and Karkat realised he was practically sitting in Johns lap. A hot flush crept up his neck as John moved into a more comfortable position, taking one of Karkat's wrists in his hand and examining it. Neither of them said anything.

"Well, it isn't bleeding," John said hesitantly, looking up at Karkat. He could feel his cheeks going scarlet, but resisted the temptation to turn away.

"I'm glad."

John shifted slightly so he could tilt his head up at Karkat, his cool blue eyes wide. Karkat took a sharp breath inwards as John's hand crept up to wipe the water off his cheeks, his thumb lingering momentarily on the corner of his lips. He leaned forward until the tips of their noses were almost touching. Johns glasses started to steam up at their close proximity, but he didn't remove his hand, only moved it to the back of Karkats neck to pull him forward until their parted lips were brushing against each other.  
Karkat closed his eyes, tasting the lingering cinnamon on John's lips as he slipped an arm around Karkats waist to pull him closer, his glasses being pushed up slightly in the process. Karkat ran his tongue over John's lower lip, feeling Johns brush up to meet his own. When they pulled apart they were both flushed bright red and breathing deeply, eyes wide in shared surprise.

"Uh," said John.

"Yeah," Karkat brought himself out of his lovestruck stupor long enough to remove himself from Johns lap and collapse on the ground next to him.

"I'm- I'm sorry, I wasn't going to-" Karkat mumbled before John interrupted.

"I'm not."

Karkat's eyes widened in shock. "You-wait, what?"

"I'm not sorry." He smiled at him, a warm, genuine smile.

"You mean-"

Karkat was once again interrupted by a loud voice calling their names from not too far away.

"Lets go, Karkat," John murmured, getting up. Karkat opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced by a warm kiss on his numbing lips.

"Come to my house after," Karkat choked out, making no attempt to move. John grinned.

"If you say so. Just no romcoms."

Karkat let out a little sound of protest as John started to walk away, and hurried to catch up.

"Whats a date without a few romcoms?"


End file.
